Optimising the reverse supply network design of end-of-life wind turbine blades under various policy scenarios

Wind energy is key to supply low-carbon energy; however, the increasing number of wind turbines poses significant challenges in terms of their end-of-life management, as landfilling remains the most widespread option. Circular economy pathways are being established, however the designed reverse supply chains proposed so far do not consider existing regulatory aspects, such as waste shipment and landfilling constraints, which can hinder the development and scalable implementation of reverse supply networks. A Mixed-Integer Linear Programming method was developed to investigate the optimal reverse supply chain network design for end-of-life wind blades under different policy scenarios, based on EU-directives. Three scenarios were explored: ‘as-is’, ‘EU Proposal 2021/0367’, which removes transboundary restrictions on waste material shipments, and ‘Landfilling Ban’, which enforces an EU-wide ban on landfilling composite materials. The reverse supply networks with minimum costs were identified for each scenario, contextually determining location and sizing of recycling facilities and calculating landfilling quota and GHG emissions associated to each network configuration. This work contributes to the circular economy literature by analysing the impact of policy initiatives on the shaping of optimised reverse supply networks at the EU-level, focusing on the key industrial context of renewable energy.